In this experiment, Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden fired alpha particles at a thin sheet of gold foil under Ernest Rutherford's direction. The small fraction that bounced back at large angles showed that an atom's mass and positive charge are concentrated in a tiny, dense nucleus.
Facts
YearMarks when Geiger and Marsden ran the scattering experiments; Rutherford published the nuclear interpretation of the results in 1911. Key FindingEvery atom has a small, dense nucleus concentrating nearly all of its mass and positive charge, disproving the plum-pudding model of the atom. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
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